Gunner , after he was appointed one of the College Chaplains in 1839 , started work on the first proper catalogue of the muniments , working systematically through the title deeds and other documents in the drawers of the cabinets in Lower Muniment Room : his completed work filled five manuscript volumes , which are still in the archives .
The real work of restoring better order had to wait , though , until after the Report of the Clarendon Commission on the Public Schools ( 1864 ), and the subsequent reform of the whole structure of the fellowship and of the school ’ s government . In the story of the restoration of order two names stand out , those of Thomas Kirby and Herbert Chitty . Kirby was the first full time professional Bursar to be appointed , following the Clarendon reforms , and set about compiling an entirely new catalogue , painstakingly rearranging the documents and renumbering them . He does not seem to have received much support from the College authorities : most of his work was done at the Warden ’ s dining table , on sufferance in the Warden ’ s absences , with the aid of a clerk who was innocent of the Latin in which many of the muniments were written . But his achievements were considerable , and his Annals of Winchester College , which prints ( with much else ) all the most essential documents concerning the foundation , remains a primary companion for anyone interested in the College ’ s early history . Chitty succeeded Kirby as Bursar in 1911 , and on his retirement from the Bursarship in 1927 was appointed Keeper of the College Archives . A gifted and passionate antiquarian , he was immensely energetic in this office . The ancient muniments were repackaged , and re-boxed estate by estate in the Lower Muniment Room . Bundles of deeds and leases , husbandmen ’ s bonds , letters of attorney and other documents of later date were sorted , labelled and stored in specially made cabinets of drawers (“ Chitty boxes ”, as they came to be known ) in the Upper Muniment Room . As he worked through the muniments , he arranged for the repair at the Public Record Office of any precious items that time had damaged . Aided by Austin Smyth , appointed his Deputy in 1937 , he added to Kirby ’ s catalogue a complete list on cards of all the court rolls , surveys and manorial accounts of the College ’ s estates . On top of all this , through his publications ( notably in The Wykehamist and in Notes and Queries ) he brought the importance of the muniments as a collection of national significance to the attention not only of the school but of the wider world of historical scholarship .
It was on the basis of the work set in motion by Kirby and Chitty that Sheila Himsworth , working with John Harvey and Peter Gwyn ( successive Keepers of the Archives ) produced her magnificent catalogue , Winchester College Muniments : a descriptive list ( 3 vols ., 1976-84 ), published by Phillimore for the Warden and Fellows . It lists and numbers effectively all the muniments of earlier date than 1873 , and includes some of the more significant material of later date as well . In all , there are more than 30,000 entries . Her work completed the last chapter in the story of the keeping of the Archives , before the new programme of conservation inspired by Michael Nightingale got under way , in 1999 .
THE CLASSIFICATIONS AND CONTENT OF THE ARCHIVES
Sheila Himsworth ’ s catalogue ( following Kirby and Chitty ), divides the muniments into two classes , records relating to the College as a whole as a corporate institution ( the ‘ Domus ’ class ), and records relating to individual College estates . In seeking to describe the range and scope of the muniments , it seems sensible to follow this division . It is not however in every respect quite as straightforward and rational as it sounds , and the Himsworth catalogue is not in every way user friendly , certainly not to the amateur . A brief introductory word of further explanation may therefore be useful .
What the Domus muniments record is essentially the story of the institutional management of the College , rather than the school ’ s educational activity ( though there is plenty of material that bears on that in one way or another ). The original documents relating to the foundation and to subsequent benefactions naturally fall into this class ( the foundation charter , the statutes , etc .). Otherwise , what the Domus class includes are first and foremost financial muniments . The Bursars ’ Account Rolls and ( from the mid-sixteenth century ) the Bursars ’ Books record the total income received from each College estate annually . They also record in careful detail how that income was spent ; on the wages of ushers and servants , on buildings and repairs , on food served in Hall , and so on . The Domus muniments also include the registers that were kept , in accordance with the Founder ’ s statutes , of the names of scholars ( with their ages at admission ), of the admissions and oaths of fellows , and the Hall Books recording week by week expenses on food served in Hall , with ( until 1520 ) lists of the names of those dining and of visitors entertained . An interesting group of documents preserves the proofs offered in support of
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